Happy Easter!!

Photo Credit: LHensley

Happy Easter!

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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New Life

In the cross of Christ man’s work was now judged; by his resurrection the new life had now been introduced into history…. The new life was not simply a promise and a hope but a present reality, evident in the ability to call upon God and bring forth fruits of the spirit within them and their community.

Reinhold Niebuhr

A morning prayer

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought

us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty

power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by

adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your

purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let Evening Come

BY JANE KENYON

Let the light of late afternoon

shine through chinks in the barn, moving   

up the bales as the sun moves down.

Let the cricket take up chafing   

as a woman takes up her needles   

and her yarn. Let evening come.

Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned   

in long grass. Let the stars appear

and the moon disclose her silver horn.

Let the fox go back to its sandy den.   

Let the wind die down. Let the shed   

go black inside. Let evening come.

To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop   

in the oats, to air in the lung   

let evening come.

Let it come, as it will, and don’t   

be afraid. God does not leave us   

comfortless, so let evening come.

Jane Kenyon, “Let Evening Come” from Collected Poems. Copyright © 2005 by the Estate of Jane Kenyon. Reprinted with the permission of Graywolf Press, St. Paul, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org.

The Rev. Canon G.P. Gutierrez elected the next Bishop of Pennsylvania

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Canon Daniel G. P. Gutierrez, canon to the ordinary in the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, was elected March 12 to be the next bishop of theEpiscopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.

The Rev. Canon Daniel G. P. Gutierrez

Gutierrez was elected on the fourth ballot, receiving 100 votes in the lay order and 133 in the clergy order. On that ballot, 84 lay votes and 130 clergy votes were need for an election. The electing convention met at Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral.

Pending the canonically required confirmation by a majority of the church’s House of Bishops and by a majority of the Diocesan Standing Committees in the church, Gutierrez will be ordained and consecrated July 16 at New Covenant Church in the Germantown area of Philadelphia.

“With joy and thankfulness to God, we announce that the Rev. Canon Daniel G. P. Gutierrez has been elected bishop diocesan of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. He brings unique gifts to this ministry of leadership and pastoral presence in a time of change. We look forward to our shared ministry and commitment to serving Jesus Christ in this diverse and dynamic diocese,” the Rev. Katherine Andonian, chair of the Diocesan Standing Committee and the rector of Church of the Holy Spirit, Harleysville, said in a press release.